A Perfect Match II — Mother's Day
by Savannah Singleton
Summary: A short Mother's Day Tribute.


Frank Reagan stood in his bedroom, looking at his image in the mirror hanging over his chest of drawers, straightening his tie. He could hear the steady hum of the blow dryer coming from the bathroom.

He opened the top drawer of the chest, dug under the many black pairs of socks, and pulled out a framed photo of Mary Margaret, his deceased first wife. He had placed the photo in the drawer before heading to the church the day he married Nicole Richardson six months before. Lost in thought as he held the photo, he didn't notice when the sound of the blow dryer went silent.

"Frank, can you help me with this zipper?" Nicole asked as she came out of the bathroom, both hands behind her back, one tugging down on the back of her beige v-neck sheath dress, while the other tugged at the zipper.

Frank quickly returned the photo to the drawer, closing the drawer before turning to face his wife.

"Come here," Frank replied. "You've always had trouble with zippers, Nicole."

Approaching Frank and then turning her back to him, she said, "Yes, I do, which is why I prefer skirts, but you've never seemed to mind helping me with them in the past."

"And I don't mind now either, though I do prefer zipping them down rather than up." Frank kissed the back of her neck before reaching for the zipper.

"You can do that later. I'll look forward to it."

"It's stuck! How did you manage to do that?" Frank said as he tugged at the unyielding zipper.

"I don't know! Can you get it?"

"Are you doubting my ability to handle a zipper, Mrs. Reagan?"

"Not at all, Commissioner! I never doubt your ability to handle anything."

Nicole stood with her hands on her hips while Frank struggled with the zipper.

"You don't have to hide her photo, Frank, I know it's there."

Frank stopped struggling with the zipper. "I wasn't hiding it, Nicole. I just put it in there a while back. I meant to add it to the photos in the den, just never got around to it."

"Maybe you haven't been ready to move it downstairs yet."

"Got it!" Frank said, as he raised the zipper from the small of her back to just below her neck. Slipping his arms around Nicole's waist, and pulling her close, he said, "You know it has nothing to do with you. Or us. You know how I feel about you, Nicole, how much I love you."

Nicole turned to face him. "I do know that, and I love you. But I also know that you still love Mary, and that you always will, just as I will always love Daniel. They will always be in our hearts. I also know that it's Mother's Day, so of course you would be thinking of her."

"She is the mother of my four children."

"That she is, and she always will be."

Frank kissed her on the lips. "We always visit the cemetery after church on Mother's Day, each one of us placing a single rose on her grave, as well as Mother's. And separate flowers for Joe. The family will want to do that today, I'm sure."

"That's sound very lovely, very special. I'd like to be there with you all, if that's okay."

"Of course it is. I want you to be there with us. I just don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

"I won't. Now, I'm headed downstairs, before Henry comes looking for us. Come when you're ready."

Nicole headed to the door, then turned back to face Frank.

"Frank, you can keep her in your drawer as long as you want, as long as you need, I don't mind. Just as long as you don't bring her to bed with us. See you downstairs. I love you."

"I love you, Nicole. I'll be down in a minute."

XXXXX

The Reagan family went straight from the church to the cemetery. The day was warm, the sun bright as they all joined together in front of the resting place of their departed loved ones. The three headstones stood erect, each lined perfectly with the other two, the first two engraved with the name REAGAN in bold letters across the length of the weathered stones. Just under and to the right of the Reagan name the first read BETTY, the second read MARY MARGARET. Engraved on the third, smaller headstone was a cross, and then the name JOSEPH CONOR REAGAN.

Jamie first placed a large bouquet of flowers in front of Joe's headstone. Frank said a few words in honor of his son as Nicole stood by his side. Danny held a box of long-stemmed red roses as Erin then handed out two to each family member. They all stood in silence holding their roses as Frank led them in prayer. Then they each took their turn, placing one rose in front of Betty's headstone, and the other in front of Mary's, starting with the grandchildren and ending with Frank, each of the children saying a few words of remembrance as they did. After Frank placed his roses, he stepped back to Nicole's side, and offered a quote from Walt Whitman, Mary's favorite.

As the others began to walk away several minutes later, Frank stood in place.

Nicole touched his arm. "I'll give you some time to yourself," she whispered, and then she turned, and walked away.

Frank stood in silence as he looked from his mother's grave to his son's and then back to Mary's.

"Happy Mother's Day, Mom. Mary. The kids miss you both. We all miss you. We always will."

Then he turned, and headed toward the cars, where his family stood waiting for him. Not seeing his wife, he asked, "Where's Nicole?"

She's over there, Dad." Erin pointed to Nicole, who was walking along the rows of headstones, stopping at individual ones for a few moments before moving on to the next one.

"I always like to check out names and dates. Love to see those who lived nice long lives," she said as Frank approached. "You okay?"

"I am." Frank reached for her, held her close for a few moments. "Let's go home."

 _The End_

 _A/N — Description of headstones from episode 22, season 1, "The Blue Templar". Walt Whitman quote mention from episode 22, season 2, "Mother's Day"._


End file.
